THE APPLICATIONS OF SALT AND PHOSPHATES TO GRASS.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 270, 6 June 1888, Page 3

THE APPLICATIONS OF SALT AND PHOSPHATES TO GRASS.

K\ i k\ yea' enlightened tai meis are <j;cf tin<_r to ioeoy;ni»e muic ami moic the impoi'anee ot'piopeik mauauing p.wuic land*-, (lia^ i> now ntrliMy lcgauled as one of the eiops of the Cum, and as such a knowledge of what inanmes applied to <rias^ pioduee the be-t lu^ult- both tor grazing pin p<>-c.s and h.i\ i- ot nnpoitaiu'u in tlio interests ot agi icullure. The following are the paitioulais- of an mtue>ting scties of expoiiuient- on ha\ , with feitiliseis mado bv Mr .lohu Udchiist, Oibu-ton Mams, Bellshill, Scotland. These c\pei iments -bowed a surpiising inciease of icsult obtained by the u^o ef a<, r ricultuial salt along with ammonia, and a neaily similar itu i rea>c fiom the addition ot botiO phosphate along with ammonia. None of the plotfc icceivcd manuro last season (1S87), and the vetunus will fcheietoic gi\e an idea of Iho residual Mdno ot the fevtili/eis appliod the soa«on before. One inteiestinu' point to which wo would draw ourreadcis' attention is the fact that the plot left unmanured both reasons pi oduced uhea\icr crop the second >-e,ison than any of the plot* that had been manured. The inllinu oil in the > ield fiom the mimanuicil giound the second season \wb veiy compaied with the decrease in the plot"* manvued (he year before. This is a point not noticed in i\\G Xo)ih ]irttt-h Ai/tiniltim-f, from which we copy the accompanying table, but it is uorth> of obfCivation as healing upon the belief we have heaid e\pic-sed by Auckland tanners that aitilicial mamues (especially boncdu-t) impoxerish land. The fact' leally is thab the croj) stimulated b> an aitificial fertilizer has the \ itality to diaw moie {ilant nutiiment out of the t^oil than a compara tisely weak ciop, and thus the .soil i« °oonei exhausted, unless it is fed every I year to make up for the t\tia calls made upon one or moi c particular constituents ot it, neee-sary to the production of certain j plant-. A crop as we take it, be it wheat or mai/e or anything cl&c, is meiely a. medium by whicli we obtain from the soil tho>e elements of it which go to make up food foi man or boast. A strong ciop woiks hard and gets, more out of the «oil than a weak crop, but it is only some one or two elements that have been partially exhausted, and by a jiuliciousrotabionoicrop« ormanurin</on scientific principles thccelcments can be re-toicd, and the Jand boas productive again as c\er. It may bo noticed that, notwithstanding the vcr\ gieat dio[> in the > iokl fiom the plot manuied with ammonia and salt the in -i reason, the icturn tor the two pea&ons fiom this plot exceeded that fiom the unmanured plot by Mist, of hay per acre. The expeuiments were made on me plots of hay, each being a 100 th pait of an acre in aica.

Xolc. — The ammonia wu<> .sulphate ot ammonia. The bone phosphate contained 15 per cent, soluble, and 15 per con I. insoluble phosphate. Mr (iilchrist notes the following deductions from tlie.se results. :— (1) That ammonia alone produces tho moat exhausting 1 exults. (2) That on the plot receiving ammonia alone the clover plant hah entirely disappeared, thus accounting for the falling oil' the second year. (3) That although the trilling difference between the plot with salt and ammonia alone, this season, prevents any conclusion that salt is serviceable the second season, ho remains strongly of opinion as to its great utility, mixed with ammonia or nitrate the first poason. Mr (Jilchrist is of opinion that the heavy dressing of ammonia has produced a more exhausting effect, perhaps, on tho roots of the grasses than on the soil itself. Ho i& also of opinion, that in place of using such heavy dressings as he has applied tho first year, with none tho second, it would have paid him better to havodrcssod lighter, but to have dressed both seasons, although it will be seen that there has been a fair profit over all.

CO 1 a I s m a o o O! p £Oo -it 3 . -i o ro cm m CM X) "-t- O H r— < rH r-H t-- o cm >-r ' t.\l (-0 CM CO UO IO IO t^- to i— l O t-Q CM CM CM CO CO r-t O "«3 U fa tr rf o '/" iO to in I CM to Bo si . O j -< a ft c o c 2 2 5 S § S -5 § o .'i R M fl / =^" *' i— ' CO u .3 'H o INI